The price of bitcoin continued its monthslong slide Thursday, falling another 11% to US$67,000 (NZ$112,000), its lowest level in 15 months.
The original cryptocurrency, pitched as “digital gold,” has lost 46% of its value since October 6, when it hit a record high of US$126,210.50 (NZ210,779.42), according to crypto trading platform Coinbase. As of 10.30am EST Thursday, its price had dipped to US$67,245 (US$112,303.35).
After the election of President Donald Trump in November of 2024, Bitcoin prices chugged higher for the better part of a year, in part due to investors' expectations of a more crypto-friendly administration in Washington.
Companies that enable investors to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, as well as the growing number of companies who have made investing in bitcoin their main business focus, have also been hit hard in the recent sell-off.
Coinbase Global fell 9.1% and online trading platform Robinhood Markets lost 8.1%. Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms dropped 10%.
Strategy, the biggest of the so-called crypto treasury companies that raises money just to buy bitcoin, tumbled 13%. The company, formerly called MicroStrategy, reports on its website holdings of 713,502 bitcoin. With the average purchase prices for those above US$76,000 (NZ$126,912.78), it means the company is underwater on the investment. Thursday morning, its bitcoin holdings were worth about US$47.8 billion (NZ$79.8 billion), less than the US$54.3 billion (NZ$90.6 billion) Strategy says they cost.
American Bitcoin, in which Trump’s sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr hold a stake, fell 6.6% and is now down more than 80% since October 7.
Other Trump-related crypto ventures have declined as well. The market value for the World Liberty Financial token, or $WLFI, has fallen to about US$3.25 billion (NZ$5.4 bllion) from above US$6 billion (NZ$10 billion) in mid-September, according to coinmarketcap.com. And the price of a meme coin named for President Donald Trump, $TRUMP, is US$3.93 (NZ$6.56), a fraction of the US$45 (NZ$75.15) asking price just before his inauguration in January.
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